Mike Gravel on Education

Libertarian for President; Former Democratic Senator (AK)

Science must guide us, not religious extremism

Sadly, in many parts of the world rationalism is on the wane and religious fanaticism on the rise. We know the role religion plays in the upsurge of terrorism today. But in America we also face religious extremism: right-wing Republicans have poisoned ou
national life by imposing their brand of Christianity on secular life.

America is not a Christian nation. It is a secular nation. The Constitution protects all forms of religious worship but bars any of them being an official faith.

Religious freedom is enshrined in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” George W. Bush and his religious right allies ought to read that amendment over a few
times, to let it sink in. The government shouldn’t have anything to do with faith. Period.

Religious belief cannot be allowed to influence public policy. Science must guide us on climate change, evolution, stem cell research and reproductive rights.

“I support funding education from the earliest years to higher education. In order for young Americans to be competitive in the global marketplace, we must dedicate resources to higher learning. Otherwise, we will be left behind by Asia and Europe.”

No position on separation of church & state

Gravel has not taken a position on the federal government’s proper role in maintaining separation of church and state, according to campaign press secretary Alex Colvin.

Source: Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
Nov 22, 2007

Extend school day and extend school year

Q: Are the schools failing our children?

A: Well, we’re failing our children, and let me give the figure, how bad it is. 30%, one-third of our children, do not graduate from high school, and that’s a good number. I’ve been in parts of the country where
it’s 40%. We’re failing? Of course, we’re failing. How can we not fail when we make the No. 1 priority in this country the military-industrial complex? We’re spending more money on our defense than all of the rest of the world put together.
There’s no money left to make what should be the No. 1 priority, and that’s education. In Japan, children go to school at 7 in the morning and end at 5. In the US, they get off at 3. In the US, we have all summer off. That’s no way to compete & succeed.
We need to get off of this agricultural-educational-designed system we have. Teachers want to get paid? Well, let them work year-round like the rest of the people. We need to have super teachers, and we need competition in education.

Our school stats fail because we’re stuck in triumphalism

Q: How do you make sure special needs children are not being left behind?

A: Well, you do that with leadership. Not just presidential leadership, but empowering the American people so they can make laws. Clearly, the Congress & the president in the las
50 years haven’t been able to do it, because education is not the top priority, and it needs to be. It is in other countries, and it shows. We are going downhill as a nation. We refuse to accept this. We’re stuck in triumphalism, thinking we’re the
greatest in the world. Well, boy, start looking at educational statistics around the world and you’ll see we’re far from the greatest in the world, and we’re going downhill. When a third of your children do not graduate from high school, it means that
these people are destined to suffer subeconomic existence. No, we are failing, and it’s our leadership that’s failing, and the American people, if they had the power to make laws in partnership with representative government, they could correct this.

GovWatch: Yes, Americans are getting fatter, but not dumber

Mike Gravel said, “Americans are getting fatter and dumber... If things are going bad, just remember who put these people in power.”

To be fair to Gravel, he made this incendiary claim in response to a question citing that obesity had risen to an “all-
time high,” SAT scores have declined, and 38% of fourth graders cannot read at basic level. Challenged to “tell Americans that they’re getting fatter and dumber,” Gravel obliged. But is the underlying data correct?

The Facts: According to the
CDC, the incidence of obesity among adults increased from 15% in 1980 to nearly 33% in 2004, so there’s no controversy there. The “dumber” part is much more controversial. Average SAT scores have declined a little over the last two years, but that’s
because more students are taking the test. A better indicator of the educational skills of the overall student population is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which concludes that math skills have been rising steadily since 1982.

Supports merit pay for teachers; make education top priority

Q: Let me just sum this up--no one on the stage is for merit pay for teachers, specifically.

A: I am.

Q: You are?

A: Stop and think: They’re all talking business as usual, politics as usual. We’re 46th in literacy in the world.
30% of our children do not graduate from high school. What does that mean for the future of this country? And all we get are the same old nostrums, that we need competition in education. Stop and think:
Spain, Norway, Finland -- these countries, they’re not the superpower of the world, but they pay for their children, from childhood to Ph.D. levels. Why can’t Americans put education as the top priority?
And you can’t do it when you want to expand, as he wants to expand, 100,000 more troops. Who are we going to nuke, who are we going to fight next?

Sent kids to some private school; likes a little competition

Q: Do you send your kids to public school or private school?

A: My children went to public school and private school, and I’m recommend that we need a little bit of competition in our system of education.
Right now, we have 30 percent of our children do not graduate from high school. That is abominable, and that is the problem of both parties.

US schools fail because we’re yoked by military

Stop and think [about American ] education -- it’s a joke. Thirty percent of American children do not graduate from high school. That’s an embarrassment. How is it that Finland, Sweden, Denmark, can take a child from down here all the way up to PhD, and
everything’s paid for by the government? Why can’t we do that? Is something wrong with us? We’re too busy carrying the yoke of the military-industrial complex, that’s what’s going on. We Americans have been drugged with fear, and we got to stop!

Citizen Power includes school vouchers

Gravel’s book entitled Citizen Power advocated the implementation of a national law to do away with voter registration and other barriers to voting, school vouchers, a drastic reduction in government secrecy, and an end to what he viewed as an
imperialistic foreign policy. The book also contained the complete text of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the complete platform adopted by the Populist Party during the 1892 presidential election.

Source: Wikipedia.org article, “Mike Gravel”
Jan 1, 2007

Vouchers are innovative & imaginative--let’s experiment

Unless the educational system is improved to meet the needs of today’s changing society, we shall have to consider the implementation of new methods. One possibility is the voucher system soon to be tried on a limited experimental basis. Under this
proposal, parents would be given vouchers which could be used to send their children to any school of their choice, public or private, or, if they prefer, to engage in specialized education activities such as apprenticeships. The cash value of each
voucher would approximate the amount spent on the education of one child each year by the local school district. The system does offer the flexibility and the element of individual choice so often lacking in our educational institutions. However, many
contend it would undermine the public school system & could be used to perpetuate segregation. Nevertheless, it is an innovative concept, something found all too seldom in education, and for that reason it merits further study & serious consideration.

25% bonus for teachers in hardship areas

Needy children are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the quality of instruction. It is understandable that the most experienced, best qualified teachers would choose to pursue their profession in wealthy neighborhoods.
Yet, it is the not-so-safe neighborhoods, the not-so-fine schools, and the not-so-advantaged students which most need skilled teachers. The long-range solution is obvious: eradicate urban slums and rural blight. In the meantime, however, I proposed a
federally supported supplementary salary program to reward those men and women who elect to teach in educationally deprived areas. Surely if we can pay government and military personnel as much as a 25% bonus for serving in so-called “hardship” areas,
we can do as much for teachers here at home. Such a program would enable financially struggling districts to compete more favorably with their wealthier counterparts in recruiting the talent to provide the quality of instruction needed by youth.